Mid‑American Energy presents Nawway Valley solar plan; neighbors press drainage, notice and ordinance concerns

John Huff, project outreach manager for Mid‑American Energy Company, told the Page County Board of Supervisors that the company has filed an application for a generating certificate with the Iowa Utilities Commission and will schedule a public meeting in Page County before the end of the month. Huff said the company mailed materials to landowners within one mile of the proposed boundary and will publish a notice in the Clarinda newspaper; he offered to provide meeting details to residents who lack internet access.

The presentation prompted extended public comment and questions from supervisors and neighbors. Jean Wagner, a resident near the proposed site, said the community was not adequately notified about schedule changes and expressed frustration with prior county decisions that she said have cumulatively affected her family’s land. Wagner described a proposed compromise with Mid‑American to add a drainage ditch along S Avenue routing water to the Neely and to install tile intakes on neighbors’ land; she said she would be willing to pay for the intakes.

“How they have done stuff is what’s going to happen by us,” Wagner said, describing concern that existing conservation work could be removed and runoff would end up on her land.

County officials and Mid‑American staff discussed the interplay between county zoning and the state review process. Katie Alexander, an attorney with Mid‑American, said the Iowa Utilities Commission (IUC) has authority under Iowa Code chapter 476A to approve generating certificates and may impose conditions; the commission will consider comments submitted through the project docket. Alexander and other company representatives said the county may participate in the docket and that the IUC can require additional mitigation measures.

Kaden Easter, a Mid‑American project developer, said timing constraints drove the company’s decision to file with the IUC rather than wait on a county ordinance revision. Easter said the company is seeking to place projects into service quickly as part of a broader solar reliability program and that they have been developing the Nawway Valley project for multiple years.

Residents pressed the company on drainage, notice and whether federal production tax credits were creating a rush to obtain approvals. Kelsey Ballard, a Mid‑American representative, said the company’s advanced rate‑making docket contemplates scenarios both with and without tax credits and that the SRP docket prescribes how projects are to proceed under Iowa Utilities Commission supervision.

Mid‑American pledged continued one‑on‑one contact with neighbors and said project engineers will attend a scheduled meeting later in the day to discuss site‑specific drainage mitigation. Supervisors and residents agreed to continue the dialogue ahead of the IUC public meeting.

The IUC filing and the company’s proposed mitigation measures were the central outstanding items; no formal county action was taken at the meeting. The IUC docket is the forum where county comments and proposed conditions would be considered.

The board said it will accept materials and participate in the IUC docket if it chooses. Neighbors were encouraged to attend Mid‑American’s public meeting and to file comments through the IUC docket if they do not have internet access.